7 Infographic Design Styles You Should Experiment With Right Now

Infographic design has come a long way since the early 2000s. Where we were once drowning in a wave of brightly colored cartoons, many infographic designers have matured, offering us museum-worthy data visualizations and tasteful illustrations that bring the story to life. (Can we get an Amen for that?) That said, we find a lot of brands stuck in a creative rut, creating the same types of infographics over and over. While it’s great to have a brand style, it’s easy to get stale.

How to Mix Up Your Infographic Design

When you’re trying to stand out, to catch people’s attention and entice them to engage with your stuff, mixing up your infographic design style is key. If you’re ready to upgrade your next project, try some of these awesome design techniques.

1) Line Art

Great for: Clean data visualization, simple illustrations

The number one rule for infographic design (and all content marketing, really) is that it’s always better to do something small well than something elaborate half-assed. In a world of bright colors and elaborate data visualization, a simple line art infographic can be a refreshing change of pace. If you are creating a small infographic series, telling a straightforward story, or trying to keep focus on data visualization, this old-school technique is a great option.

Example: This infographic design for Number26 features simple visuals that tell the story of the company’s first year.

2) Photography

Great for: Adding human emotion, data visualization

Humans emotionally respond to other humans, so including photography that features people can be a nice way to help the viewer connect or empathize. But photography doesn’t always have to feature humans. In fact, it can be a great way to add depth and texture to a design, especially when incorporated into data visualizations.

Example: We helped Marketo create a Mad Men-themed infographic for millennials. Along with data about the state of digital marketing, we used a little retro flair to bring the modern workplace to life.

3) Illustration

Great for: Character depiction, conveying abstract concepts or themes

There’s a reason illustration is so popular. You can let your imagination run wild and create any world or theme you want, which is a great benefit when you want to stretch your creativity. It allows you to flex your skills, experiment with different illustration styles, and bring characters to life. A warning, however, that characters can be the hardest thing to draw. If you’re a little rusty, go for simplicity (see: line art).

Example: As part of an ongoing series for Course Hero, we used heavily illustrated infographics to break down famous literary works. For this infographic, featuring The Iliad, our illustrations were inspired by Grecian art, capturing the story’s theme in the infographic aesthetics.

4) Tactile Data Visualization

Great for: Bringing data stories to life more impactfully

Data visualization is great because it can help you “see” numbers more clearly. Unfortunately, designers often miss out on the chance to really enhance data stories because they are too focused on crafting the same old boring charts and graphs. While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with that, crafting data visualizations with real-world objects, then using creation tools (photography, animation) to bring them to life is a slam dunk.

Example: We collaborated with Turbo Tax to explore cigarette tax. Using the physical objects to visualize the data made for a more powerful piece.

5) Isometric Design

Great for: Adding depth, visualizing ecosystems and structuresWith isometric illustration you’re dipping your toes in the 3D world, letting you experiment with depth and perspective in a way that isn’t possible with traditional 2D illustration. This helps you create a richer visual experience that can be a great treat to the viewer. That said, isometric data visualization is generally not recommended because it can misrepresent the data.

Example: This Lucidworks infographic uses isometric illustrations combined with 2D visualization to support the core story: bias in data science.

6) Animation

Great for: Social content, blog content, any opportunity where you need to grab attention

One of the best things about the evolution of publishing platforms (and infographics themselves) is that infoGIFS (aka animated infographics) can be published anywhere and everywhere. This brings infographic design to the next level, letting you create eye-catching pieces that add another layer of storytelling to your content.

Example: We helped Incapsula bring survey data to life through an animated infographic that gives a behind-the-scenes look at a website.

7) Explorative Design

Good for: Detailed data, decision-making contentGuiding your readers through your infographic design in a logical flow makes sense, but not all infographics require that prescriptive storytelling. Things like a detailed flow chart or detailed static visualization provide a unique experience, where the viewer gets to explore the info they’re most interested or navigate through the content based on their answers or goals.

Example: This Star Wars-themed infographic explores the universe’s best vacation spots through a detailed flowchart and plenty of isometric illustrations.

Remember: Experimentation is Everything

To stay ahead of the curve, experimenting with your content—both in the type you make and how you present it—is crucial. If you’re looking for more tips to mix it up: